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Making and Selling small food items out of your home.....can you?

Can you make small food items and sell them without having to have a food handling license for your particular state? I want to know how many other women on here do this? And if your one of them that do....have you ever gotten turned in or got in trouble for doing so?
I'd like to make a couple food items from my home just to sell for some extra cash.
Any other info or advice would be greatly appreciated! Just FYI I live in IL.

Check your state laws or keep it just between you & people you trust the only way you can get in trouble if if someone reports you but at the same time they are buying from you at there own disgression

I live in Michigan and just this past summer our laws changed so that we CAN sell food products out of our home kitchens with no permits or licenses as long as our annual income from said sales is under $15,000. I sell decorated cakes and baked goods.

I don't know if it's legal, but it doesn't sound like it. I would not sell food items from my own kitchen, it sounds like a huge headache to me - food handling licenses, meeting health department regulations, etc.

No. Before you can make and sell anything you must have a business license (Tax ID) and register your company with your state. Even if you are making simple chocolate lollipops, the fact that you are selling them to make money, means you will be subjected to zoning laws in your city/town, and health inspections!!

I used to run my own custom gift basket company (home-based), and even though I was licensed and registered, I was still liable whenever I included prepackaged items in my baskets!! I had to be careful that the packages were marked for resale and their expiration dates hadn't passed. Believe me, if there is a way someone can try and sue you, they will! We live in a VERY litigious society!!

And remember when it comes to home-based businesses, your HOME and personal bank accounts can become assets in a law suit, and you could lose everything!! You need to Incorporate your business....look into S-Corporations and liability insurance for individual home-based businesses if you do decide to go this route.

Legally you have to not just have the business license/permit & tax ID but to produce food you have to have your kitchen pass inspection, and laws on how a kitchen must be are tight, such as a sink for food another for dishes. A friend of mine had an inspector come when she wanted to have a cake baking business from her home....to be approved she would have needed over $20,000 in updates to her kitchen, which she could not afford.